This conference will be an international symposium on "New Directions in Biology and Disease of Skeletal Muscle," to be held January 25-28, 2004 in San Diego, California. This meeting is designed to provide a forum for information exchange that will lead to better integration of knowledge about muscle function and dysfunction. Its foci on cellular and molecular aspects of skeletal muscle as they relate to health, disease and dysfunction should bring together researchers who do not often attend the same meetings.